Latvia, Germany To Play For 5th

Arnolds Helmanis hit a buzzer-beating hook shot to give Latvia a 76-74 victory against Greece and the right to play for the 5th place at the U20 European Championship 2012.

With the score tied at 74-74 and 17 seconds on the clock, Greece had the possession, but Giannoulis Larentzakis decided to not run down the clock and attempted a three-point shot with five seconds left.

Ole Wendt led Germany in their victory against the hosts

The shot didn't reach the target, Marcis Vitols got the defensive rebound and dished it to Helmanis for the game decider.

Five players finished in double digits for Latvia, led by the hero of the game Arnolds Helmanis and Arturs Bremers, who both had 12 points, and Andris Misters, who finished the game with 11 points.

Larentzakis finished the game with 31 points for Greece after going 11-of-19 from the field, but the Greeks lacked a bigger contribution from the bench, as Latvian second unit players outscored them 34-7.

Latvia will face Germany for the 5th place in the championship after the Germans defeated the hosts Slovenia 65-53 in the other game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th place.

Slovenia led for most of the way, but the Germans finished the game on an 18-0 run to hand the hosts their second consecutive loss of the tournament.

Ole Wendt had a game-high 19 points for Germany and also grabbed 6 rebounds, Philipp Neumann was one rebound shy from a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 9 boards, while Besnik Bekteshi chipped in with 9 points and 5 rebounds.

Marko Pajic and Miha Lapornik were the only Slovenian players in double digits with 10 points each, as the hosts had to do without their influential shooting guard Klemen Prepelic who is injured.

Slovenia will play Greece on the final day of the tournament in the game for 7th place.